How does carbon removal work?
Carbon removal technology is controversial for several reasons, including the fact that no commercially viable option has been shown to work at scale. Most focus is therefore put on technologies in the testing stage, such as Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS). Although carbon removal companies sell BECCS as a positive step in which the huge emissions from biomass burning are captured and stored underground, the reality is very different. Fern’s briefing outlines the main concerns which include that it would do nothing to capture emissions from logging or land use change, that technological barriers remain, and that it would be prohibitively expensive.
Nature-based carbon removals rely mainly on forests and lands to absorb CO2. Some major polluters therefore promote forest and other land-based carbon offset schemes as a nature-based solution to the climate crisis. These schemes, in which one party continues to pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by paying for another party to plant trees, have been widely discredited. They also distract from efforts that should be prioritised such as protecting and restoring natural carbon-capturing ecosystems. For example, natural forests’ ability to sequester huge amounts of CO2 has been backed-up by compelling scientific evidence.